Dodgers Sale Rumors: Magic Johnson and Company Favorites?

This weekend it was announced that at least eight groups had moved on to the second round of bidding in the sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers.  While some notables such as Mark Cuban, Steve Garvey and Orel Hershiser weren’t able to make the cut, many high-profile bidders remain.  The names of those remaining in the Dodgers sweepstakes have been released, but Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com believes he already knows who the winning group will be.

The Los Angeles Times has come out with eight of the remaining bidding groups.  The list includes Joe Torre, Rams owner Stan Kroenke, ex-Dodgers owner Peter O’Malley and even the family of Roy Disney.  Another A-lister that made the cut is former Laker great Magic Johnson.  Heyman believes that Johnson’s group is the early favorite to land the Dodgers.

Heyman says his selection has less to do with Johnson and more to do with who he knows.  His group already includes Stan Kasten and could increase in a big way in the near future.  Heyman hears from sources that L.A. billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong is likely to join the Magic-Kasten group.

While Soon-Shiong is reportedly still weighing which group he will join, the biotech genius is known to be good friends with Johnson.  Soon-Shiong bought Magic’s 4.5 percent stake in the Lakers and Heyman reports that, if the Magic-Kasten group is in the bidding until the end, Soon-Shiong is expected to join them.

This weekend the bidding had reportedly reached the neighborhood of $1.2 billion.  Bob Nightengale tweeted Sunday night that at least five groups have submitted bids totaling $1.5 billion or more.  Nightengale initially thought the Dodgers would ultimately be sold for $1.7 billion, but Heyman hears the total could reach the $2 billion range.

For more on the Dodgers, be sure to check out Lasorda’s Lair.

You can follow Call to the Pen on Twitter at @FSCalltothePen or like us here on Facebook.